I think we first discovered Roo The Roaring Dinosaur when we were sent his first book to review last year. For some reason that review never got written up, but it really should have been as he's utterly delightful! I'm therefore determined that Best Playday Ever! will get the review it deserves. This time Roo is joined by his new friend Erik, a big, friendly and extremely clumsy polar bear explorer. Too shows Erik around his island and they have great fun together, even if clumsy Erik does get into a bit of a mess in doing so. When they get to the top of the old volcano they look out to ... read more
How To Save a Superhero – Caryl Hart & Ed Eaves
We first discovered Albie a couple of years ago when a copy of Plunge into the Pirate Pool arrived for us to review. At the time Little Miss C had just finished a learning theme at school on the subject of pirates and it fitted in perfectly with that. It disappeared off to school for a while, before coming back home and being one of those books that seemed to crop up quite regularly at bedtime. Since then LMC's reading has moved on a lot and Master C has become the Albie fan. The Pirate Pool is a book he asks for by name and has recently been a regular in the pile that he presents me with ... read more
Handstand – Lisa Stickley
There's been a flurry of children's books arriving chez C recently and it's been timed perfectly with Master C started at the school pre-school and a new rhythm to our days together. We have less than two hours at home together in an afternoon now before we have to head out again to pick up Little Miss C from school, and how to fill that time best has been a bit of a challenge. He needs a bit of down time and to zone out in front of the TV for a while, but I'm conscious that if I'm not careful the whole time can be spent like that, which isn't really what I want. Instead I'm trying to ... read more
Odd Dog Out – Rob Biddulph
Sometimes I find myself reading a book to the children at bedtime and just falling completely and utterly in love with it. With Odd Dog Out though, not only did I fall in love, but I also found myself shedding a small tear in the process. If only all books could get things as spot on as Rob Biddulph's managed here and the world would be a far better place in my opinion. As anyone who knows me in "real life" will know - I'm not exactly someone who always conforms and as a result there can be times when I don't exactly fit in with those around me. That can make the world a lonely place, ... read more
The Good Little Bad Little Pig! – Margaret Wise Brown
We've reviewed a few Margaret Wise Brown books here on Being Mrs C over the last couple of years (The Diggers and Good Night Little One) and I still find myself amazed at just how many books she wrote. When I first discovered her classic Goodnight Moon it was only after searching on google in the middle of the night for books suitable for a baby as I was having one of those sleep deprived panics that I wasn't reading Little Miss C bedtime stories enough. How things have changed! The latest Margaret Wise Brown offering that has arrived to review from Parragon is The Good Little Bad ... read more
The Diggers – Margaret Wise Brown and Antoine Corbineau
One of Master C's favourite books over the last few months has been Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Or Night Night Moon as he prefers to call it. I therefore sat down with him to read a copy of The Diggers by her with great interest especially since he instantly became very excited by the picture of a digger on the front cover. Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of stories and poems for children and this particular one has been brought alive in this modern version by French illustrator Antoine Corbineau. Dig, dig, dig go various animals and machines as they dig underground to ... read more
Fiddlesticks! – Sean Taylor & Sally Anne Garland
You can tell that a child likes a book when they insist on sleeping with it by their bed at night, open at the page of their favourite illustration. Just so they can look at it as soon as they wake up the next morning. That's exactly what Little Miss C was like with Fiddlesticks! Mouse loves his little house and is incredibly house proud about it. One day he noticed that one of his windows was a little crooked though. Oh Fiddlesticks! he exclaimed. Unable to fix the problem himself he enlisted his friend bear to help. Bear tried to straighten up the windows, but ended up pulling it clean ... read more